The secret guide to computersRuss Walter
The secret guide to computers
by Russ Walter · first published 1999
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4recommended by
4HN commenters
2011–2023first – last mentioned
100% recommend
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Probably! When I was a kid I learned elementary Basic from Russ Walter's Secret Guide to Computers about a year before I ever put my hands on an actual computer. I think it was helpful to know computers were nothing mysterious, they just followed instructions. Although I remember being really confused…
on “Teacher in Ghana has no computers so he draws Microsoft Word on the blackboard” ↗When I was a kid, I somehow ended up with a copy of the 1989 edition of The Secret Guide to Computers, by Russ Walter. While it was already outdated by the time I got it (this would be around 1995 or 1996), I found it an absolutely fascinating resource for a number of reasons. One, it was my introduction…
on “A History of Commodore’s 8-bit Computers” ↗…and just enough credulity to accept the wildness of the story, it was quite a captivating narrative. This book, a few issues of Electronic Fun with Computers and Games and a photocopied version of The Secret Guide to Computers were what really turned me on to computers as a kid in the 80's. Reading a book like Inner Circle or an article like this may have provided a certain hero myth for hackers, the kind which sometimes seems…
on “The article that inspired Steve Jobs: “Secrets of the Little Blue Box”” ↗A very strange computer manual that I had and enjoyed as a kid is The Secret Guide to Computers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Guide_to_Computers Weird illustrations and humor and pretty eclectic and very opinionated coverage, from hardware to different operating systems to CS concepts,…
on “The Strangest Computer Manual Ever Written” ↗